[Thad E Ginathom]

A good mixed metaphor is a good mixed metaphor. A jumble of words that the writer vaguely connects in his mind, is not a good mixed metaphor. There are also those who just plain get it wrong, but have a flair, like a certain American sportsman (was it Babe Ruth?). They almost enrich the language with their blunders.

Sadly, this piece of ignorance is just a piece of ignorance :-(

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

A good mixed metaphor is a good mixed metaphor. A jumble of words that the writer vaguely connects in his mind, is not a good mixed metaphor. There are also those who just plain get it wrong, but have a flair, like a certain American sportsman (was it Babe Ruth?). They almost enrich the language with their blunders.

Sadly, this piece of ignorance is just a piece of ignorance :-(

You are probably thinking of Yogi Berra of "It's deja vu all over again" fame.

Some of the best mixed metaphors I have read are in the Yes Minister and Yes PM series. Jim Hacker was a genius in that respect.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks, yes, I got that name completely wrong!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Samurai

... Naren is remap doctor than medical doctor.
.

More than? Less than? What than?

"Than" by itself is absolutely meaningless. But common usage has now given it an assumed "more." It's too late to fight, it's happened. But it is a lazy and ugly change that I certainly won't adopt.

Imagine, in coding: if a is than b. That would make you cringe, right? Even if the assumption was built into the compiler, it would make for utterly confusing code to read.

Nothing personal, of course. As I say, it is a lost cause. But it would be nice if people tried to maintain languages, rather than letting them degrade.

Having said all that, there are assumed missing words in the past. Iirc, Dickens wrote "out window" without the "of the." Or something like that. But perhaps sometimes language does
evolve, rather than degrade!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

More than? Less than? What than?

Rather than. That is what I was thinking of. (now you can beat me up for a dangling preposition )

[Thad E Ginathom]

Let me rather whisper, discretely, in your ear, "Sir... Your preposition is dangling!"

[tilt]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Let me rather whisper, discretely, in your ear, "Sir... Your preposition is dangling!"

Sorry Sir, this is exactly the kind of behaviour up with which I shall not put.


Cheers

[graaja]

Need some clarification from experts.



Had to beat 4 eggs to fluffiness while making a sponge cake. As I was beating the eggs, I just posted this picture in a friends group and said "this is 4 eggs". A friend replied "*was" and I corrected it further "*were".

But then I realized, it should be "this was four eggs".

What is the right way to say this?

1. This was four eggs
2. This were four eggs

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by graaja

Need some clarification from experts.

Attachment 2006330

Had to beat 4 eggs to fluffiness while making a sponge cake. As I was beating the eggs, I just posted this picture in a friends group and said "this is 4 eggs". A friend replied "*was" and I corrected it further "*were".

But then I realized, it should be "this was four eggs".

What is the right way to say this?

1. This was four eggs
2. This were four eggs

These were four eggs.
This (beaten mess) was four eggs.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It is still four eggs, so is is correct, unless it is being said in a joky way.

A Lancashire man might say, "This were four eggs." The rest of Britain would say was. In practice, I am certain of this (it is what I would say) but I am not certain of the grammatical answer.

EDIT: from writing explained

Was is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it).

Were is used in the second person singular and plural (you, your, yours) and first and third person plural (we, they).

Right. There we have it. Your eggs, mixed in the bowl, are a singular thing, thus this was four eggs.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by graaja

Need some clarification from experts.

Had to beat 4 eggs to fluffiness while making a sponge cake. As I was beating the eggs, I just posted this picture in a friends group and said "this is 4 eggs". A friend replied "*was" and I corrected it further "*were".

But then I realized, it should be "this was four eggs".

What is the right way to say this?

1. This was four eggs
2. This were four eggs

It has to be "this was 4 eggs"

Here the auxiliary verb "was" is being used with reference to the subject " cake"

Cake is singular. Hence the pronoun "this" has to be used and not "these"

Since "this" is singular, "was" has to be used and not "were"

Although 4 eggs are used, auxiliary verb is always used to refer to subject and not predicate

[graaja]

Originally Posted by mayankk

This (beaten mess) was four eggs.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Right. There we have it. Your eggs, mixed in the bowl, are a singular thing, thus this was four eggs.

Originally Posted by gkveda

It has to be "this was 4 eggs"

Thank you all for clearing this doubt

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by gkveda

It has to be "this was 4 eggs"

Here the auxiliary verb "was" is being used with reference to the subject " cake"

Cake is singular. Hence the pronoun "this" has to be used and not "these"

You have gone too far! The cake does not affect the matter. What if he had been making cakes? We are dealing with the verb to be only.
Oh wait, we are both making a mistake...

I just posted this picture in a friends group and said "this is 4 eggs".

"This is four eggs," stood alone as a caption to the picture.

[murillo]

Originally Posted by graaja

Need some clarification from experts.

Originally Posted by mayankk

These were four eggs.
This (beaten mess) was four eggs.

Originally Posted by gkveda

It has to be "this was 4 eggs"

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

We are dealing with the verb to be only.

I am not an expert; as per my thinking:

"This" is used as a demonstrative adjective and must have a noun. The noun here is whatever the OP shows in his picture - let us call that a "blend." We can use this noun to make the sentence clearer – This blend was 4 eggs.

If OP wants to use "This" as a prounoun, then: This is a blend of 4 eggs. But I believe OP wants to convey a sense of contrast with a before/after transition, in which case, he can go with the adjective version.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Plainly, before and after is significant: it is the purpose of was. What you are making clearer by inserting an understood noun (blend, mix, etc) is that it is singular, and thus the verb is was. The rest is in the hands of the writer!